The Cliffs at Princeville has won multiple awards for corporate social responsibility and hospitality. Why is this important and how do you sustain the high level of achievement?
As an independent resort, our board of directors ultimately sets the direction of the resort. We are lucky to have a group of men and women on that board who see social responsibility, including greening, as a priority. They see Kaua‘i and all of Hawai‘i as a special place and want to do all they can to help keep it an amazing place to live and work.

A 10% reduction in water uses (1.3 million gallons), the installation of 3,000+ solar panels and 200+ Tesla Powerwall batteries allowing us to produce 46% of our guest room electricity, and the planting of 91 trees on the resort last year are examples of their commitment.

The Cliffs at Princeville is proud to have won Pacific Edge Magazine’s 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility and the 2019 Commitment to Green awards. We also won the RCI Green’s Platinum Award as the #1 greenest resort out of 2,000+ affiliated resorts in the United States. We were also thrilled to achieve the Hawai‘i Green Business Award and to take my team to be recognized at the capital by Governor Ige.

What’s your strategy for staying relevant in the marketplace? What strategies are you utilizing to stay ahead of the curve?
Listen to our guests. Partner with surrounding businesses. One of the biggest challenges for any business is anticipating the desires of a changing market while staying true to existing customers. The Cliffs at Princeville is a 202 unit mixed-use resort. We are small enough to offer personalized service and large enough to offer a nice range of amenities guests expect from a resort.
Some guests want a quiet hammock to kick back and read or a cocktail by the pool. Some hit the tennis courts and Makai Golf Course. Others are looking for excitement like surfing, ziplining, ATV and horseback adventures. Having staff available who can take the time to help you arrange these things, either before you arrive or during your visit combined with online booking capabilities, is key.

What do you and your family do in your spare time? For fun? To keep your mind sharp? How does that reflect back on your work?
My wife and I have an 11-year-old son. As with most parents, life tends to follow him. From a very young age, we took a “shotgun” approach to exposing him to things. The idea being expose him to as much variety as we can and see what sticks. The result of that has been an adventure that keeps us (especially my wife) running in lots of different directions. It seems like we are never home! A wonderful side effect of that is that I’ve become so much more aware of how important it is to make that possible for my staff if we can. Whether they have children’s activities to attend or are spending time on whatever pursuit makes them happy, a little flexibility can go a long way.

You have a lot of involvement with the Boys and Girls Club of Hawai‘i. What are some things you hope to achieve with the organization?
Through the Hawai‘i Lodging and Tourism’s Charity Walk, I reconnected with a previous coworker, Tina Albao. Tina had left the visitor industry and become the island director for the Kaua‘i Boys and Girls Club and was accepting HLTA’s Charity Walk donation that morning. In talking with her, I realized there is a tremendous need throughout Hawai‘i for children to have a safe and nurturing place to go after school.

When I got back to work and asked some of our staff, I learned that several of their children went to Boys and Girls Club so that their parents could work. Since then I’ve been hooked. Hawai‘i is not going to get any cheaper. In order for our kids to have the ability to live here, education and access to opportunity are key. With the help of so many resorts, businesses and individuals, we are working to help provide that for as many kids as possible.